The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded $1.65 million to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to continue restoration work at five highly contaminated sites on the Great Lake.
This EPA funding is the first installment of an approximately $5 million Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) grant to DNR.
Under the 1987 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, the United States and Canada targeted 43 highly contaminated Areas of Concern, or AOCs, for cleanup.
EPA’s GLRI grant supports work toward “delisting” the five AOCs in Wisconsin:
Since 2010, EPA has provided states with GLRI funds totaling more than $300 million.
Through these federal-state partnerships, more than 4 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment have been removed or otherwise addressed and more than 195,000 acres of habitat have been restored.